Cover Tunes (1 Viewer)

[Brian L]

Hey, they did a whole album of covers; The Spaghetti Incident. And IMHO, its damn good.

I particularly like Down on the Farm, although I am not sure who the original artist was. Axle's sheep noise at the end of the track is a hoot. They actually played it a Farm Aid a bunch of years ago, and as expected, Axle let go with a few expletives. But they were waiting for it, and instantly cut to a Nashville newtwork logo.

And as for SRV, I consider his take on VooDoo Chile to be the definitive version, much like Hendrix owns All Along the Watchtower.

BGL

 

[MarkHastings]

I just looked it up on Amazon and CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!

You can download an MP3 of "Summer Nights" for free!!! and the data rate is high too (160k/sec)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...=digital-music

 

[Eric Peterson]

I knew there was a big one that I was forgetting.

Here's a few others that I like.

Ramones - I don't wanna Grow Up by Tom Waits
Tricky - Black Steel by Public Enemy
Nirvana - Lake of Fire by Meat Puppets
Fiona Apple - Across the Universe by The Beatles

 

[MarkHastings]

Does anyone remember the song "Don't Turn Around" by Ace of Base?
Did you know the original song was by Neil Diamond?

More:
Bif Naked - We're not gonna take it (Twisted Sister)
Corey Hart - Can't Help Falling in Love (Elvis)
Lillix - What I Like About You (Romantics)
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Rainbow Connection (Kermit the Frog)
Poison - Your Momma don't dance (Loggin and Messina)
Rick Springfield - I've Done Everything For You (Sammy Hagar)
Steven Curtis Chapman - I'm Gonna Be "500 Miles" (The Proclaimers)
Ugly Kid Joe - Cats in the Cradle
Whirling Dervishes - You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch

 

[chung_sotheby]

Good to see another Travis band. Highly underrated (and in the most case, unknown) in the states. They also did a great/hilarious cover of Britney Spears' "Hit me baby one more time." Good times.

Also, the Alison Krauss cover of the Foundations' "Baby, now that I found you," is amazing.

Nirvana's rendition of David Bowie's "Man who Sold the World" on their unplugged CD is just heartbreaking.

Also, I always enjoyed Jimmy Buffet's live version of CSN's "Southern Cross." Maybe because every time I have heard it it is after 4am and 25 beers.

I found a cool cover song site. Really good to just browse it for a while.

HERE

Worst Cover(Tie):
The Ataris, "Boys of Summer." They just butchered the shit out of it
Various, "What's Goin On." I don't see what the hell Fred Durst is doing even remotely close to the work of the great Starvin Marvin Gaye. Don't touch it! Don't even look at it!

 

[Dave Bennett]

Wow, no love for Tears for Fears in this thread
I love both versions personally, but I find in situations where I like them both equally, I have to give the nod to the original just because it is the original. The Gary Jules version is great, don't get me wrong, but after first hearing the original version I knew I preferred it. It's not hard to make a slow tempo song depressing, but to make an up tempo synth pop song depressing takes skill. Tears for Fears has a great track record of being able to do this(Shout and Pale Shelter immediately spring to mind).

 

[Danny Tse]

Aztec Camera's acoustic version of Van Halen's Jump is excellent.

It's currently available on a compilation CD at Pottery Barn (don't ask).

 

[Yee-Ming]

Man, this is something I gotta hear: Jump is my favourite VH song (I know, a travesty to the hard-core, but what can ya do, I'm a child of the 80s ).

Another curiousity that came to mind: Bananarama's cover of Long Train Runnin'. It wasn't horrendous, but wasn't great either. And didn't someone recently cover Cruel Summer? Which IIRC wasn't very good either in comparison to the original.

Discuss: should a cover be a completely new "take" or "interpretation" of a song, a "re-imagining" if you will, or a simple "remake"?

FWIW, one of the most innovative "re-imagining" "covers" I've heard is the Eagles covering themselves with their acoustic version of Hotel California on Hell Freezes Over, which is quite different from the original yet incredibly does the classic song justice. Too often a "re-imagining" is just doing it differently for its own sake without being really interesting -- some of the tracks on Bon Jovi's This Left Feels Right seem that way, though some others are very good (e.g. Bad Medicine)

 

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

Warren Zevon does a really cool, ironic version of "Back in the High Life Again" on Life'll Kill Ya.

 

[Danny Tse]

Anyone who can take a familiar song like "Jump" and "reinvent" it gets a thumbs-up from me.

Since I am a child of the 70s and 80s, I will add some more....

Get Back (live version) - Paul Young and Tina Turner on lead vocals (with Paul McCartney)
This version smokes simply because Tina Turner was smoking hot with her performance. Paul Young was good in the presence of such legends as Tina and Paul.

The Bug - Mary Chapin-Carpenter
From "Come On, Come On", this cover of the Dire Straits song is rocking good.

Dancing In The Dark (live) - Mary Chapin-Carpenter
Not available on any MCC album, this cover version of the Bruce Springsteen hit takes on an somber slow-downed tone in an acoustic version by MCC. This song is only available on a MCC CD single.

 

[Richard Travale]

oh yeah, Warren Zevon also did a cover of Prince's 'Raspberry Beret'
You guys should check it out, it's pretty good.

 

[MarkHastings]

Speaking of Prince covers, the Baz Luhrmann CD "Something For Everybody" (with the Sunscreen song) has a lot of cover songs:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=music

The Prince cover of "When Doves Cry" is very techno, but cool.

And speaking of Baz Luhrmann, both Moulin Rouge CD's are a cover fest.

 

[gene c]

I know some people are going to hate me for this, but I've always liked what Manfred Mann did to a few Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan songs (yikes!, don't hit me!). I could be wrong but I don't think royalties are paid for live performances. Now if the performance is taped and then sold the cash registers start ringing. If I am wrong I hope someone corrects me. And speaking of Bruce, his cover of "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town" is pretty cool. Gene

 

[EricSchulz]

Gene, I believe you are correct...

Pet Shop Boys live version of "Where the Streets Have No Name/Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" was re-edited for the video release "Performance" for that reason.

 

[John Watson]

and of course Zevon covered Knockin' on Heaven's Door, notable for the circumstances.

Yes, I think a really great cover should reimagine a song. Elvis Presley transformed "Hound Dog" from a good blues song to a hillbilly punk classic.

But straight covers are good for attracting audience attention ("Hey, I know that song, I'll buy the album.")Notice that performers rarely bother to cover a song that was never any good anyway.

If the performer is good (as a singer, interpreter), then they can do other people's songs, as a career plan. But they better use good writers.

There are way too many poorly written songs filling overly long albums, because these performers mistake themselves for auteurs (and want all the royalties for themselves).

 

[TedT]

The Less than Jake "Greased" CD is well worth it. Yeah, it's short, but so is Slayer's "Reign In Blood". Still worth your money. There's a full length "Grease" covers compilation out with other bands on it, but it's not as good as the LTJ one.

Two covers that I've always thought were among the best I've ever heard are:

Die Kreuzen: "Seasons Of Wither"
SNFU: "Wild World"

(though it's been years since I've heard them).

Oh! An LA band called 1,000 Mona Lisas did a great version of "You Ought To Know" as a hidden track on one of their EPs.

Also check out Me First & The Gimmie Gimmie's and all four volumes of the Punk Chartbusters disks. Some great stuff there.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Actually I believe they are. "Copyright" includes the exclusive right to perform the work, so if someone other than the copyright owner performs said work, owner is entitled to royalties. I recall this because I knew of a potential lawsuit when Eric Clapton came to town.

This is where it really gets weird: obviously the concert promoter has paid Mr Clapton to perform. Clapton performs (mostly) his own work. Yet the local royalty collecting agency came a-knockin'.

Their argument is that the fee paid to Clapton is for his services in performing, but doesn't include the issue of copyright, which I presume Clapton had either exclusively licenced or even sold to the collecting agency.

Curious, eh?

On another note, I still recall that when my hostel (sort-of part-way between a dorm and a frat) wanted to put up a musical of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the organisers wrote to Roald Dahl for permission, which he kindly gave, and his handwritten letter was pinned on the noticeboard. Sadly, he died shortly thereafter.

 

[Tony-B]

It is, but I was just telling him that it is short.

Reign in Blood is an undisputed metal masterpiece, by the way!

 

[Jeremy Little]

Nirvana - Seasons in the Sun (terry jacks)
Nirvana - Here She Comes Now (velvet underground)
Dynamite Hack - Boyz in the Hood

 

[MarkHastings]

NO WAY! I gotta hear that! I love the Terry Jacks version, I'd love to hear what Nirvana did with it.